


Of Ice cream and apologies

by Ragamuffins



Series: The apparently growing adventures of Maxie and May [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: F/M, Gen, I'm just a very slow burn sort of person, Still has shipping undertones, but could be read as gen, so... obviously these will be slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 13:36:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2852699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ragamuffins/pseuds/Ragamuffins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tabitha lifted his tablet back up, scanning over several readings before turning back to his boss, "Well, whatever happened... in my experience, apologizing usually works."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Ice cream and apologies

**Author's Note:**

> This was the prompt:
> 
> "For the prompt thing, how about - in a nutshell - Archie saying something towards May(maybe flirting or hitting on her) in front of Maxie and Maxie really disapproves of Archie's actions?" from hollowsart
> 
> There's no Archie in it (Sorry Archie, I love you ;0; next time, I swear) because the fic deals with the consequences of what happens in the prompt but there's some Tabitha in there for your troubles.
> 
> The shipping is still in undertones (I'm an idiot and like fluff and development *whispers* I'm sorry, I'll get there eventually... I just really like drawing out development and slow burn *pokes fingers together*). As such, can still easily be read as Gen, but I'll tag it because... it's in my mind. SO THERE.

_Thunk, thunk, thunk..._

The sound probably vibrated with force through the halls of the Team Magma hideout, but honestly, at that current moment in time, Maxie simply could  _not_  bring himself to care. And so... the noise continued, diligent and mostly uninterrupted but for the soft whining of the large Camerupt at his feet, who had apparently taken it upon itself to nudge its owner every three  _'thunks'_  in an attempt to get him to stop. So far, its endeavors had been completely useless, as Maxie continued to lift his forehead softly off of the wall of his room, only to let it falls back upon it, creating the soft  _'thunking'_  sound that traveled through the halls.

 _Thunk, thunk, thunk..._  it went, time and time again, and it would have continued, entirely unrelenting had it not been for Tabitha's appearance at the teleporter.

The other man's head was bowed, eyes squinted almost shut as he scanned the tablet he was getting readings off of; he knew the base like the palm of his hand, and thus... often traveled the place without looking up. Which was why he wasn't immediately surprise upon entering Maxie's quarters, "Boss, there's been reports of a persistently annoying sound, coming from all the way around here.No one wanted to come check and-" it was right about then that Tabitha finally lifted his head, his gaze focusing on his boss, rather than on the numbers and letters flickering rapidly over the screen of his tablet. His mouth, which had remain open, mid sentence, snapped shut as he watched Maxie  _thunk, thunk, thunk-ing_ away his head against the wall of his room, "I... what are you doing, sir?" he paused, and then he shook his head, even before Maxie could answer, "Actually, no. Never mind. I'd much rather know why you're doing it," he said, "And is it at all related to the fact May's in the common room, looking like she's sulking up a storm as she consumes Groudon's weight in ice cream?"

The sound finally stopped as Maxie let his forehead rest on top of the wall, and then slowly,  _agonizingly slowly_... turned his head, with forehead still resting on said wall, just so that he could offer his second in command the sourest expression he had probably ever pulled off in his life.

" _Wow_ ," Tabitha drawled out as he peeked open one of his eyes, "Should've used that expression back a few months ago, boss; might've helped us back in the day," his leader's reaction to the words, which were obviously meant as a soft jab, was a mere grunt before he turned his head and focused his glare on the wall. Tabitha then slowly turned to look down at the poor Camerupt, who whined mournfully up at him, "What happened? Did you guys get owned in the Battle Maison today?"

Maxie's response this time was something akin to a cringe and a silent snarl as he closed his eyes. But other than remaining horribly tense, much like a spring, forehead still against the wall... he nor budged nor spoke up.

"I'll take that as a no?" the Camerupt emitted another soft, mournful whine as Tabitha lifted his tablet back up, scanning over several readings before turning back to his boss, "Well, whatever happened... in my experience, apologizing usually works," he paused and frowned slightly, his tone of voice tainted with slight disapproval, "Probably much more productive and  _intelligent_  than giving yourself a concussion, sir," that said, the man turned around and headed back towards the teleporter, his head bowed over his tablet once more. At least... until he reached the device, at which point he turned and looked over his shoulder with a mild frown, "You know, sir, for someone so intelligent, you can be awfully dense sometimes," and that said, the Team Magma second in command teleported away.

And so, Maxie realized he had two choices; he could continue to wallow in his apparent misery (He was, after all, managing to sulk up quite the storm of epic proportions; it'd taken time and effort to build up such a sulk), or he could take his second in command's advice.

Slowly pushing himself away from the wall, he glared at it, and actually seemed to consider his options a few more moments before he let out a soft, defeated sigh, turning to look down at the Camerupt who still remain diligently standing by his side. The creature offered him a strange, sad look, which only served to make Maxie feel even  _more_  guilty than before (He was sure that girl had taught his pokemon that look - he did not remember them pulling such stunts on him before her). Still, after a moment or two, he let out another sigh and then... "Fine," he said softly through gritted teeth, " _Fine_ ," he said again, and then, after casting one last glare at the wall (as if the poor thing were, in fact, to blame for all his troubles and the mild headache he could feel brewing), the-not-so-great-Maxie marched his way towards the teleporter, pokemon in tow.

~~~~~~~~

She wasn't hard to find.

Tabitha had been right; the girl was, indeed, in the common room, sitting at a table at the furthermost corner of the place. She'd apparently had her fill of ice cream though, because she lay with her chin on the table, eyes hooded and looking as if her whole world had shattered to pieces. Several bowls of ice cream lay around her fallen head, in different states of consumption (some entirely eaten, some only half eaten, and others barely touched or simply spilled over the table in a colorful chaos of epic proportions).

That right there, was the same girl that had not just managed to calm Groudon down, but had, in fact,  _tamed_  the large beast, armed with a few pokeballs and what Maxie had no doubt had been a brilliant smile at the time.

There was a strange, almost eerie juxtaposition of images of her in his mind, and had he not already come with the intention of apologizing, he would've probably done so regardless, because he had to admit; the scene tugged at him.

As he approached, he noticed that his Crobat was currently perched on the girl's backside and head, peering down at her as best it could from its current position. After a moment or two, when it heard his approach, it lifted its head and offered its owner a glare worthy of a Zangoose, "You," he drawled at the bat, "Are a traitor," the response he got from the Crobat was a small, obviously upset hiss and then it flapped its wings and flew up to the ceiling of the room, where it perched upside down and continued to glare down at him.

The Crobat's magnificent glare was joined by May's slightly less incensed one. In all honesty, the girl was offering him a look somewhere between 'wounded puppy' and 'upset, hissy kitten', which really, fell rather short of being intimidating. In fact, he was actually quite sure this was the first time he could recall her reacting in any way other than prolific amounts of positivity towards any given situation (negative or not).

He stored that notion in the back of his brain for further dissection, later on, when he was alone and not on a  _mission_. Food for thought for sure. For now, however, he focused his gaze on the glaring girl, whom after a few moments of silence, made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat and turned her head away from him; something which she'd also never done before.

Before he could open his mouth to speak, a small hiss came from the general direction of the ceiling, and a small pebble fell on the top of his head. A grunt was elicited from the Magma Team leader as he raised his hand, rubbed his head, and then aimed a sharp glare at his Crobat, which hissed again, sounding much more disappointed than it did angry.

"I am sorry."

It was finally said, but silent seconds ticked by before the girl finally turned her head to look back at him; when she did, Maxie was surprised and a little bit dismayed to see the hint of vague skepticism in her eyes, which reminded him more of himself than it did of her (and  _good lord_ , was he actually  _rubbing off on her_?!). May squinted her eyes and looked up at him fiercely, scrutinizing him, as if trying to find any little bit of lie in those words.

Fortunately for him, he might have been a bit of a prideful idiot, but he didn't often speak up unless he meant it, and thus... the girl found no lie, "I was angry and I took it out on you. I was wrong," and  _ooooh_ , how that fact still  _hurt_ his pride; Maxie was not a man that had ever been truly used to being 'wrong', "And I apologize," he stressed the last word out and then, slowly uncurled one of his hands from behind his back and offered it for her to take.

May remain silent for a moment or two before she finally cracked a smile; it was small, but it grew in force. However, before she was able to take his hand, the girl groaned out loud and thunk-ed her head over the table, squeezing her eyes shut.

"May?" Another long, drawn out groan was his response, his hand hovering over the girl's form, unsure of what he should do.

"I think..." she licked her lips, "I think I might've overdosed on ice cream," she mumbled from her position, which was much reminiscent from his previous one, against the wall of his room, "My stomach hurts," and that said, she raised her head to eye him pitifully. The apology had apparently been enough, because the girl was back to her normal (albeit slightly ice-cream-intoxicated) self, "Help me.  _Please_."

"Defeated by ice cream," he said as he arched a brow, "If I had known..." this earned him a small glare without heat, but still the girl finally took his offered hand and he decided to make his apology count by helping her; tea and nice, hot pack should suffice.

After all, it wasn't every day that the girl that had saved the world  _twice_  needed his help.

 


End file.
